Well, on the bright side it pushes you not only to your 10 Author Challenges badge, but your 5 Categories badge.

If you happen to write your next one in People (for this task) let me know if it ends up working or not; I think some authors have made it through on other categories, so here's hoping. It *should* count.

If you're not interested in writing you may find it a bit of a slog though.

Edited to add: I would move you on to the next stage as your first one should've counted, but I have no way of doing it. The only one who would be able to to would be Terry. Unfortunately, the issue was overlooked not only by myself, but those who looked through it before it went online. Sometimes it happens. :s

Unfortunately, I'm not sure how else to help with this. I'm disappointed that you're caught in a bad predicament and I'm sorry you feel that way about the site as a whole based on your experience with this new game. It wasn't my intent to have a bug in there but, like I said, it happens.

Hopefully you'll still make the best of your membership should you decide to stay.

I'm copying this from another thread, because I think it bears on the topic here.

I'd like to give a general word of advice to any author writing specifically for a challenge, where it is important that the quiz go into a particular category. If it *really matters* where your quiz goes, check with an editor in that category *before* you start writing. There is no point in guessing and hoping, when someone who actually knows the answer to your question is right here, willing and able to help. The editors in a category are listed on every page in that category - just send a message and ask.

I'm copying this from another thread, because I think it bears on the topic here.

I'd like to give a general word of advice to any author writing specifically for a challenge, where it is important that the quiz go into a particular category. If it *really matters* where your quiz goes, check with an editor in that category *before* you start writing. There is no point in guessing and hoping, when someone who actually knows the answer to your question is right here, willing and able to help. The editors in a category are listed on every page in that category - just send a message and ask.

Thanks Agony.

Authors and new players, please note that this is also mentioned throughout the Adventures in Authoring game. Our goal is to ensure that authors, new and old alike, learn how to construct amazing quizzes while learning the guidelines. Reading through the game, specifically through the writing hints and tips, will really pay off if you're interested in submitting quizzes.

The point of this is that I DID follow the rules,used the correct category, but the challenge writer made a mistake.

The category of the second quiz has been changed. OK, I accept that But do not agree with the revised category as it is not JUST about UK wild birds. There should be a section in Hobbies for birdwatching.

Kyle has apologised for the mistake, and I'm sure he feels really bad about it. He's explained that he does not have the ability to treat your quiz as qualifying and move you to the next stage - if he did, he would, since it was his error.

I understand your annoyance - I think I'd be pretty mad if it had happened to me. Kyle was trying to make things a bit better by pointing out that the change of category would give you two badges, which you wouldn't otherwise have attained. There is no time limit on the Adventures challenge, so why not take a break and come back to it later?

I congratulate you on achieving so many quizzes in such a short space of time. For someone new to quiz writing, it's admirable. You should post them in the Author Lounge for the November quiz writing challenge.

Adventures is a new challenge, so the odd hiccup has to be expected. It's unfortunate that it happened to a new author, as those of us who have been around longer have had similar experiences and lived through them. Writing for the Great Quiz Race led to a few mishaps and misreading of clues, where we had to write a second quiz to get it in the right category. That was against the clock, too.

I'm sorry you've had this bad experience, and hope that you'll feel less upset about it in a few days.

Kyle has apologised for the mistake, and I'm sure he feels really bad about it.

Pretty much.

Quote:

The point of this is that I DID follow the rules,used the correct category, but the challenge writer made a mistake.

Already acknowledged.

Quote:

The category of the second quiz has been changed. OK, I accept that But do not agree with the revised category as it is not JUST about UK wild birds. There should be a section in Hobbies for birdwatching.

This was up to the discretion of the editor in Hobbies. If your quiz contained question/info about the birds, it likely would've had a better fit amongst the bird mixture quizzes in Animals. If the questions were about techniques used while birdwatching, devices used in the hobby, etc. it probably would've fit in the 'Outdoor Activities' section of Hobbies. If you ever have a question about the recategorization of your quiz, an editor will be happy to answer and questions and explain the move. It's not a message to argue, of course, but a message we can use to get a common understanding and, perhaps, instigate any changes necessary to get the quiz where you want it (eg. changing/rewording/shaping a few questions).

As a side-note, I'm sorry if you felt offended by any of the comments I've made in regards to this issue. As I've said, it's completely your choice if you want to continue or not; none of this is mandatory. Authors can write their entire collection of quizzes without touching the game. It is just a game. They can decide not to write at all; some players just don't want to. That's fine too.

I suggested that if you wanted to make another one you would let me know the outcome; I want to make sure that it's working now; in fact, I know it's working now. No obligation. If you don't want to you don't have to.

As I also said before, if I could push you onto the next task without you having to write another submission, it'd already have been done. I have neither the technical know-how to do it nor the access to anything like it. I built the game using a system that Terry originally created for the Great Quiz Race. There are no cheats-- not even for me. Please don't get the impression I'm doing it to sneak more quizzes out of you.

I mean, I always like to see more quizzes...

...but more importantly I also like to see authors get their justified rewards. I would expect the same.

Sometimes we just need a break from quiz writing. I do hope you decide to give it another go in the future, but perhaps a break is for the best. You really zipped right through the first few, faster than most! And for that, I congratulate you.

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"The only water in the forest is the River."

You've done an amazing amount of writing, zippolover. I am only up to step 3, and made the embarrassing mistake of not even targeting a correct category. I enjoyed the process of writing that quiz, but I still have to write another one before I can proceed. Since I expect the adventure will take months to complete, I am not going to rush it, but wait for an inspiration that will fit where it belongs.

It's a good quiz - I just played it. The more quizzes you write, the easier it becomes. It doesn't mean you won't get corrections, but the process of putting a quiz together becomes less stressful. You're honoured - Salami has never written me a poem!

Since I was the editor who moved the quiz, I should quickly state two things:

First, the quiz was 10/10 about identifying specific birds. It gave a description of the bird and asked the species. This, much as I would have liked it (it is a good quiz), is not a fit for Hobbies but a perfect fit for Animals (which even has a UK birds subcategory, matching your setting of being in a British garden and watching birds). As Kyle stated, had you concentrated on techniques for birdwatching and photographing birds, it would have been a perfect fit in Hobbies and I would have gladly put it online.

The second thing, and that is a hint that I want to give you for the future, is that I could not know you wanted the quiz in a specific category. That's exactly what we have the optional editor notes for: you could have indicated something so that I would have known you are writing for AinA and need a Hobbies quiz. In that case, I would have sent it back to you with some change requests that would have made the quiz fit the category. Without knowing about your situation, however, I simply saw a good UK birds quiz, so I sent it over to Animals where it could make it online quickly.

I didn't want to frustrate you - I simply had no information to go by other than seeing a very good UK birds quiz, so I did to it what seemed best for the quiz. Sorry for that!

(Kyle - maybe you can add a part to the later stages of the game where no one has arrived yet about categorizing and using editor notes...)

Edited by WesleyCrusher (Fri Nov 16 201205:42 PM)

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FunTrivia Editor (Hobbies and Sci/Tech) and AdministratorGuardian of the Tower